Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Least terns are sea birds that nest in very open areas, and they prefer beaches. Under natural conditions, these habitats are occasionally flooded by storm surges and if they're not, beach vegetation takes them over. The choice for the birds is a tricky one: selection of a site that is too low could mean loss of a nest later due to flooding, selection of a site with too much vegetation may result in loss of nests to predators. Least terns usually nest in colonies of ten to twenty pairs, the numbers providing some protection against potential predators. And colony sites naturally change from year to year as habitats change. The typical small colony size and shifting of colony sites may be important to the survival of these birds. While a predator that finds a colony may destroy all of the nests, the colony isn't large enough to sustain a predator population over time. By shifting the colony site from year to year, predators must discover it anew each season.

'With the Wild Things' is produced at the Whitaker Center in the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University. For 'The Wild Things', I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson.

These recordings are copyright 2007 by WGCU Public Media. They are being made available in the PALMM Digital Library with the express permission of the rights holder.
For permissions please contact the owning institution. WGCU Public Media, 10501 FGCU Blvd. S., Fort Myers, FL 33965